Celebrities

Last Saturday night a charity basketball game was played at a local university.  The game featured a team made up of celebrities against a team of local college players and alumni.  I’m going to display a rare bit of ignorance (Ha!) by confessing that I only recognized one name on that celebrity roster.  That person was someone named Brandy and she was acting as a coach.  I had no idea what Brandy does for a living but I had seen her name in some internet articles.

So, being a modern guy, I used Google to check out what made these celebrities famous.  Brandy, not to be confused with Brandi Passante of Storage Wars fame, is a singer whose last name is Norwood.  She’s got some credibility as a performer and a very strong voice.  A fellow by the name of Mario is another singer who added his presence to the event.  He also has a legitimate claim to celebrity status.  Then there was Sevyn Streeter yet another singer who seems to be a more recent arrival.  A young man by the name of Trevor J was listed but I couldn’t discern if he was a Trevor Jackson, singer and actor, or a Trevor John something also an actor.  But I’m sure all these folks have made the grade as celebrities by exhibiting some talent and by struggling through a process of climbing the difficult steps that are involved.

But thinking about celebrities, which usually makes my head hurt, brought me to the notion that there are an awful lot of them who have never really shown any talent other than a talent for self-promotion.  There are also celebrities in the world of sports who gained fame quickly, perhaps had some initial promise of real talent, but then settled into a mediocre career bolstered only by their talent for getting their names in the papers.  Their stardom was more about ego than performance.  But sports is a whole different story.

On the internet one can read about celebrities from the wonderful world of reality television shows.  People named Kardashian seem to turn up frequently.  Paris Hilton, Lindsey Lohan, Jessica Simpson; who are these people and what have they done to deserve their celebrity-hood?  I used up all my patience for checking out celebrities a little earlier so they’ll remain mysteries to me.

Some people get to be really, really big celebrities.  Perhaps they’ve had talk shows or acted in movies or television.  Some might have been thrust into the limelight through politics or being involved with politicians.  And all too frequently these people are taken seriously when they offer opinions or advice about big issues or current events.  They may be smart folks and they certainly have the freedom to say what they think.  But why they should be taken any more seriously than Elmer Fudd puzzles me.  How did Oprah become a legal, spiritual and literary expert?  How did George Clooney become an authority on international governmental relations?  When did Ed Begley Jr. become the go-to guy on environmental issues?  And finally, why would anyone even listen to anything that Anthony Weiner or Monica Lewinsky had to say?

Now I’d like to be famous someday.  It would be cool, for a little while, to have a small degree of celebrity.  And I’ll bet most of you reading this wouldn’t mind it for yourselves.  But being a celebrity brings much that is unpleasant.  Celebrities need to be prepared to have their entire lives exposed to the public eye.  They need to realize that the smallest action will result in a terribly out of proportion reaction.  I’m not sure my private life would stand up to too much scrutiny.  Celebrities are not only greatly loved they are also frequently vilified and even hated.  I mean look at what I just did in this little article.  I pretty much dismissed celebrities as a class.  Not that I hate celebrities, I just question their usefulness from time to time.  Of course there are those charity fund raising events that get help from celebrities.  So maybe there is a reason for them after all.

Now go have a normal person’s fine day.